Pollsters have phoned homes up and down the country to find the nation’s favourite films from their childhood, and returned a range of results from the 1942 classic Bambi to Toy Story, made in 1995.

But the runaway winner was ET the Extra-Terrestrial, Steven Spielberg’s 1982 masterpiece.

The American was also named the UK’s favourite director, in a comprehensive survey asking 1,500 people about their film-viewing habits and preferences.

In keeping with the accolade for the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones giant, Action and Adventure was named Britain’s best movie genre, with Comedy second and Science Fiction third.

The films people would most want to see again were a more eclectic bunch; while gritty 1994 prison drama The Shawshank Redemption took top spot, the public also said they would happily give any of the movies in the Harry Potter saga a second viewing.

On average people said they watched films around two to four times a month, and though their choices of what to see might vary remarkably, a whopping 72 per cent said the reason they did so was for “relaxation and escapism”.

Finally, the cinema-going public was asked to name their favourite memorable lines from the movies. “I'll be back” from The Terminator and “Nobody puts baby in a corner” from Dirty Dancing did well, but the winner was from 1939 epic Gone with the Wind - “Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn”.